Live A Middle-Class Life in Thailand?

Could you Live a Middle-Class Life in Thailand?

Do you want to live as you did in your $7,000/mo, $750,000 California-style house? Or would you be content to live a middle-class life in Thailand like a middle-class Thai person would?

What would it feel like to live a middle-class Thai life in Thailand?

Well, take a close look at any middle class Thai. Let’s say a high-school math teacher.How does a middle class Thai teacher live? How do Thai middle class government employee live? Or a middle manager of a big Tesco department store – how do they live?

Well, first, where do they live? If you want the full Thai experience with all the beauty and culture, great climate and laid-back lifestyle at the lowest cost you’ll live in Chiang Rai, up north, near the border. Move to Chiang Mai, where I live, and you’ll pay 30% more, to Bangkok and add another 30% for costs like accommodation. (If you have a Thai spouse, of course, you’ll pay Thai prices, but that is another story).

In Chiang Rai, a friend is a middle manager at Tesco, the British supermarket chain. He’s considered middle class and single Thai girls are eager to date him. He rents a nice apartment for 3,000 baht/mo. bought a new car on credit, and he helps support his mother, father and grandfather. By Thai standards his lifestyle is enviable.

As a farang, $1,200/mo. puts you into Chiang Rai’s upper class middle class. You would live in either an apartment or a townhouse – usually two stories, in a gated community — or rent a house.

But you can’t live a Thai middle-class life very well if you don’t speak the language because you can’t take advantage of Thai prices (farangs pay more for most things, it’s an unspoken rule here). If you don’t speak the language, what can you do?

You find a good lady friend. It doesn’t matter if she’s your wife or a good friend. Finding such a person can take time. It took me almost 3 years because it takes time to gain entry to Thai culture. Middle class Thai women are not falling over each other to befriend some random farang – any more than middle-class American, British, or Australian women are. Maybe it took me longer to find a Thai woman friend because I wasn’t interested in dating her. What I wanted was a cultural ‘in’ to Thai life.

If you get into the local dating scene you can easily find educated women with good jobs who are open to a relationship with a farang because their Thai husband or boyfriend treated them badly. That is much more common here than back home. Thai men abandon their families at an alarming rate – and don’t pay alimony or child support.

Bear in mind that you are definitely expected to support someone, whether it’s her child, or her parents. That’s part of marriage to a Thai. Get used to it now.

So, before you get here, use the online dating services. They’ll help you talk to with educated women before you get off the plane and give you the opportunity to learn about the Thai culture from them . They understand that you know nothing about Thailand. And they’ll help you understand the role of Buddhism, or respect for elders, or respect for objects and social norms. Before you come, do your homework and really prepare to live here. That way, you’ll learn how to live here as a middle class Thai would and you’ll live better than you’ve ever done before. I live on $2,400/mo., travel abroad 3 or 4 times a year, and drink only imported Belgian beer (draft, of course!).

What’s Your Thai QOL?

How do you define quality? My idea of quality for me might be different from yours.

For me, quality of life means that my environment is very safe, comfortable,and healthy. I feel my energy lifted just by seeing the beautiful environment, the smiling, happy people, and the climate that I’ve finally adapted to.

The man who owns my apartment usually fixes any problems within 45 minutes, then apologizes for them. Everything works perfectly and looks good, always. My studio is large, bright, cool and well-ventilated, with a balcony, at the end of a cup-de-sac, and costs me 3,000 Baht/mo. Yep, that’s $100. Of course, that includes free internet and is fully furnished, like most Thai rentals. You can buy a good secondhand car for $3,000 if you take your care and look around, you don’t have to buy a brand new $15,000 Honda Fit.

But here’s a warning: a $3,000 used car will probably not satisfy a middle-class Thai woman. It would threaten her status, her place in the community. There’s no point in complaining about that. A lot of Thai –and all oriental – culture is about status. If you want a middle-class Thai wife you’ll have to to fit into Thai society’s expectations of what that means.

So take a sober look at the pluses and minuses of the kind of life you want to live – then take another look at the money you have. My money from Social Security was $1200, the average. It wasn’t enough for the lifestyle I wanted so I started this business. It lets me work 1-2 days a month and, by so doing, double my income. Now I’m much more acceptable in middle-class Chiang Mai, where glossy interior design magazines still picture the emerging Thai middle-class dream.

I don’t have any insurance because it’s not available at my age. I live a very healthy lifestyle and if something goes seriously wrong, I’ll fly back to Australia or the US, where I’m covered by the national health programs.

Anyway, enough from me. Listen to what Richard Weeks can accomplish on $600/mo:

Future Reading:

Why I Gave Up Flipped Instruction – Lectures are viewed at home by students, via videos or podcasts (found online or created by the teacher), and class time is devoted to assignments or projects based on this knowledge. In theory, this sounds …… My class demographics tend to be pretty middle class, although we do have kids who live in poverty. My class sizes tend ….. I teach World History at an international school in Thailand and have ‘flipped the class’ in terms of putting video ‘lectures’ online. I don’t …

Rock and Roll, Economics, and Rebuilding the Middle Class … – Live Streams · Podcasts · Shareables … Today, at 7:00 pm EST, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers Alan Krueger will deliver remarks on income inequality and rebuilding the middle class at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. As he’ll discuss this … It is, to a considerable extent, up to private sector businesses, organizations and communities to ensure that economic growth leads to widely shared prosperity and a decent living for the vast majority of our people.

Remarks by the President to UAW Conference | The White … – These jobs are worth more than just a paycheck. They’re a source of pride. They’re a ticket to a middle-class life that make it possible for you to own a home and raise kids and maybe send them — yes — to college. (Applause.) …

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Comments

Dating site Thailand? I go to North of Thailand to find a wife I will stay for a year to know her but what dateing (marrage) site can you recommend? Not interested in Bangkock or Puket women no X-hookers Thanks William [email protected]

It’s difficult enough to judge someone when you meet them in person. And men are notoriously clueless when evaluating strange women. If you’re serious about a Thai partner I suggest you watch Aimie’s videos about Thai women. Then maybe spend a day with Aimie herself discussing your needs and interests. She’s not a match-maker (she knows one, however) but can give you advice that will save a lot of heartache!

Godfree I am William From USA.
To rent a house on the next couple of days
I went to Pai 1 week but its not for me past the wild party stage 60 now
I stay at Teachers Guest house
Go to Chiang Mai House Property Sale & Rental Management
Am On Jan 18th 2015
My budget is 3000 to 6000 month to month
I have a moto
Cash in Hand to rent when I see a nice place
hope for House, but… whatever is with in my budget
willing to go 1 or 2 km outta town if necessary?[email protected]